Water!

This summer is certainly shaping up better than last year.  It certainly feels warmer and we have had less rain.  I checked with the Weather Office, Environment Canada's Data service for the weather information, for a comparison to last years conditions.  On average, comparing each month in each year, 2012 has been about two degrees warmer than 2011.  Remember that is the monthly average.  The precipitation is considerable different from last year as well.  In 2011, between April and July 12 the golf course was drowned in 442 mm of rain.  The average for that period is about 190mm.  To date in 2012, we have received 273mm of rain (60mm of which came in one day), above the yearly average, but well below last years drenching numbers.    So what does that mean to golf course.  It affects us in many different aspects.  Our new irrigation plant is running more often as we strive to keep the turf healthy.  Last years total out put was 6.0 million gallons and this years to date is 3.1 million gallons.  Aside from watering the greens, tees and fairways more frequently, we can't rely on the rain to keep the rough alive.  Kyle has been working like mad to keep the areas not covered by the irrigation moist, and monitoring the hot spots on the greens.  Quite often you might see him out there during the day syringing the greens.  Please be patient as it is an important portion of our maintenance routine.
note: After reading what I have written I came across this article on the CBC website. We are fortunate to have the facilities to get water to our playing surfaces.

 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/07/11/ns-water-farms-fire.html

The extra line of heads running on the back of 18 green.  These do not water the green but rather the turf between 18 and 9 greens.

With the warm humid days and cool nights we are seeing a flush of fungus on the fairways.  The fungus is commonly referred to as Dollar Spot and thrives under such conditions.  The dollar spot is most evident in the fairways right now and in some of the rough.

Typical Dollar spot.  This picture was taken on four fairway.

While the greens are treated with fungicide on a regular basis during these periods of favorable fungus growing weather and the fairways are treated only during signs of infection.  There are areas on the golf course that we refer to as indicators sites.  Number four, number six and number 18 fairways are indicator sites for Dollar Spot on the golf course. When these areas start to show signs (as shown in the photo above) we know it's time to spray. We know when the fungus is most likely to appear, but sometimes as the conditions change and the infection will abate.   We are cautious with the decision to apply and monitor the progress of the fungus as the application is very expensive and requires a large quantity of fungicide.  When we feel the disease has reached a threshold and becomes a threat and there is no natural relief in the future we treat the fairways. This year the conditions are perfect for growing fungus with no signs of relief.  On Tuesday during the maintenance hour Tony applied a fungicide, tank mixed with a growth regulator. The product will give us 28 days of prevention and may have to be reapplied if the conditions remain the same. This will not cure the disease but rather prevent it from worsening, and the turf will recover in short order.

July, August and September are very busy as far as tournaments and regular play are concerned. The weather is nicer and many players are taking more time to enjoy the golf course.  It's during this time, our peak season, that we strive to keep the golf course tournament ready at all times.  One of the regular maintenance projects we have around this time is edging the sand bunkers.  We start with the green side traps and then move on to the fairway traps.  Now that the summer students are in full swing we are able to dedicate more resources to this aspect of of our routine.  The staff starts by pulling the sand down away from the edge to expose the lip.  Then with very sharp half moon edgers, cut vertically down removing the horizontal growth, sometimes six inches, sometime two inches depending on the how much the trap has grown in.  Once all the debris and contaminated sand has been removed, the edges are pushed back into place.  On the low side of the trap (away from the green) the sand is brought right up to the surface, while at the front of the trap a two inch lip is left.  This is so that if your ball trickles into the back of the trap you can still get your club behind it.   As of today, all of the greens side traps have been edged and we are starting the fairway traps.

On the subject of traps, a member sent me an email this week about the traps and raking them.

Hi Adam,

I have noticed lately that many members have forgotten or do not know
how to properly rake a sand trap after they play out of it. Many people
walk in on one line and out on a different one only raking part of the
tracks they have made. Maybe you can find a video like the one for the
practice area divot pattern to give them a little nudge.

Enjoy you posts and keep up the excellent work.

Thanks for the input!!  This video is from the golf channel and I think captures what we would like to see when raking the traps.

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/golf-etiquette-rake-bunker/

Any suggestions that you have for a blog post or any questions you would like to have answed feel free to send me an email at afletcher@oakfield.ca or simply leave a comment on the blog.  This blog is a medium for you to get information regarding the golf course and we look forward to your input!! Thanks again.

This shifty looking fellow was relaxing on on 12 Tuesday morning.